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These cookies are great for Halloween:

Here is a wonderful cookie recipe that will take you almost no time to put together and bake. While I was trying to come up with a holiday cookie, I knew it had to be easy to make. I am not a big cookie baker. I don’t like scooping two dozen globs of dough. I find it too time consuming.

That being said, I realize cookies are a great thing to give to friends and family. So, I came up these simple and delicious ones.

I like soft, cake-like cookies. I researched the web and came up with pumpkin cookies. I wanted to make then yummier and thought of adding cranberries- I love the tang they bring to all the dishes. I then decided to take the cookies to yet another level with grated, semi-sweet chocolate. The three flavors go wonderfully well.

Try these cookies this holiday season and if you are able to- do share them.
Click here for the recipe… »

Here is another version of our favorite healthy dessert- duffins. I wanted to make something for Halloween and the first thing I think of – is pumpkin. When I think of pumpkin, cream cheese frosting comes to mind- it really is a match made in heaven.

So, in order to make duffins, I decided to invert the two and use the cream cheese as a filling in the middle.

The result was delicious- well, eventually. I made one batch and had a few friends taste test for me and give me some critical analysis. My daughter is the most honest taste tester I have- she has no qualms about telling me when things are not right. She told me the duffins didn’t have enough pumpkin flavor and the filling tasted too much like cream cheese and not like a frosting. She was right- I had forgotten to add vanilla extract in the cream cheese mixture.

The second batch included more spiced including cinnamon, ginger and cloves. It also included the missing vanilla extract. The result was delicious.

Make these for halloween…

• 1 cup raw sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1½ cups white whole-wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup extra light olive oil
• ¾ cup 1% milk
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• ¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger

Filling

• 2 oz cream cheese
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar
• ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla. Keep aside.

Topping

• 1 tablespoon butter, melted
• ½ cup fine raw sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degree F. Lightly grease a 12 muffin tin with a bit of oil in each cup.
In a large bowl, beat together sugar and egg till light and fluffy. Pour in vegetable oil, milk and pumpkin puree. Mix to combine.
In a small bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg and ginger. Pour into the egg mixture and stir well.
Add a quarter cup batter in each cup. Add a teaspoon of cream cheese on top. Top each cup with the rest of the batter to cover the filling.
Bake for 15 to 18 minutes, until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
While muffins are baking, melt butter in a small bowl. Pour ½ cup sugar into another small bowl.

Once the muffins are done, lightly brush the top with melted butter, remove from the pan and roll in the sugar, coating all parts of the duffin.

This is another sweet dish to enjoy for Diwali this week. I made this last year and it was a huge success… here is the post.. enjoy!

This was the first time I attempted an Indian confection. I really enjoy eating them, but somehow never made them at home. I would either buy them or my Mom would make them for me. She would tell me how easy they are to make but I never seemed interested.

This time, I decided to give it a try and see what the fuss was all about. Well, it is quite simple to make. All you need is chickpea flour, butter or ghee and nuts. You have to saute the flour in ghee for a bit – kind of like risotto. Once the flour is similar in color to milk chocolate, you add the sugar and any other flavorings you like. The mixture is smoothed onto a platter and refrigerated. Once it is set, cut it up and serve.

Try something different this New Year, your guests will love it…
Click here for the recipe… »

Diwali- Indian New Year is on Wednesday this week. For those who are not familiar with the holiday- there is just one thing you need to know- it a fabulous time to eat good food including something sweet.

Regardless of  where you live in India or what tradition you follow, it is a day to eat sweets and spend time with your family and friends.

We usually get together with family and eat lots of delicious food. As I just mentioned, one of the traditions is to eat something sweet.

I had this sweet rice recipe which I thought would be perfect to eat on such an occasion. Actually it is ideal for breakfast with a steaming cup of coffee.

I grew up eating this delicious rice flavored with jaggery, cinnamon, cloves, cardamon and cumin seeds. It has an amazing nutty flavor. In this recipe I have used brown sugar instead- just to make it more accessible. I love eating this rice hot with a dollop of low fat tangy yogurt- it is delicious.

Try this one- it has an amazing flavor…
Click here for the recipe… »

This recipe is great for Rosh hashanah!
I had family coming over for a pizza party and I wanted to make a dessert. Since I am testing holiday recipes, I bought canned organic sweet potato puree from Trader Joes.

I wasn’t sure what to do with the puree- I know people usually have one sweet potato dish for Thanksgiving but I wanted to do something different.

I looked at a bunch of sweet potato recipes online and decided to make a spiced cake with the puree. I used cinnamon, cloves and cardamom powders. It is a fabulous blend of flavors with the sweet potatoes.

I then started thinking about a topping of some kind. Coconut and pecans came to mind. I toasted them and added them to a sugar icing. I also added cinnamon for some extra flavor.

The whole combination is fabulous- really. Give it a try and if you don’t like it let me know why.

I served the cake to adults and kids- they all loved it. What I loved about it was that it has the same healthy ingredients I always use. I was thrilled with the results and can’t wait for everyone else to try it as well.

• 1 cup pureed sweet potatoes
• 2 eggs
• ½ cup extra light olive oil
• 1 cup turbinado sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup white whole wheat flour
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/3 teaspoon powdered cloves
• 1/3 teaspoon powdered cardamom

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease and flour a 9” round pan.

In a medium mixing bowl, sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. In a large bowl of a mixer, add the sugar and oil. Beat till the mixture is creamy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, then add the sweet potatoes and vanilla and mix well. Stir in dry ingredients and pour into the round pan.
Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until tester is clean. Let cool and then top with the coconut and pecan icing.

Toasted Coconut and Pecan Icing

• 1 cup confectioner’s sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 4 tablespoons milk
• ½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut, toasted
• ½ pecans, chopped and toasted

In a small mixing bowl, combine the sugar, cinnamon and milk. Whisk well until all ingredients are incorporated and smooth. Add the coconut and pecans. Mix well and pour the mixture on top of the cake. Let it set for at least an hour before serving.